Scientists in the UK and Italy are working together to solve a mystery surrounding centuries-old swords by investigating whether they are genuine or counterfeit. Over a thousand years ago, an unusual and very expensive kind of steel, known as crucible steel, was being produced in many areas of the Indian subcontinent, Iran, and central Asia. The material was so strong—unequalled in Europe—that many people tried to replicate it and pass their swords off as the real thing.
The question is—which ones? Some of the swords lack the tell-tale ‘watered-silk’ pattern of crucible steel, known as ‘Damascus’, almost certainly due to over-polishing by 19th-century dealers, whilst others may be counterfeits with the pattern falsely etched on the surface of cheaper metal. Using STFC’s ISIS neutron and muon source, the UK’s centre for studying the properties of materials on the atomic scale, conservationists are trying to establish if material in a series of swords featured in the prestigious Wallace Collection in London are made from the crucible steel, or are replicas.
The ongoing research is expected to help them to accurately catalogue what amounts to over a thousand items of armoury. This is the latest research to benefit from a well-established UK-Italy partnership that for the last 30 years has seen the development of neutron instruments designed especially for cultural heritage studies at the ISIS facility in Oxfordshire. Sir Richard Wallace, an English art collector in the 19th century, built up a large collection of Indo-Persian swords which are now housed at the Wallace Collection in London.
Dr Alan Williams and Mr David Edge from the Wallace Collection are working with Dr Francesco Grazzi from the Italian National Research Council (CNR) to solve the mystery surrounding these swords. Using neutrons on the ISIS instrument known as INES, they are investigating the quality and type of steel used in a selection of sixteen Indo-Persian swords from the Wallace Oriental Armoury Collection. Due to its non-destructive nature, neutron scattering provides the perfect solution for studying ancient swords and detecting hidden patterns on the blades.
This is just one study made possible by a long-standing working relationship between STFC’s ISIS Neutron and Muon Source and the Italian National Research Council (the CNR). “INES and the STFC-CNR collaboration, along with other collaborations with international facilities, are crucial for the scientific Italian community as there are no neutron sources in Italy,” said Dr Antonella Scherillo, ISIS instrument scientist for INES.
Speaking following a ceremony in Italy to mark the 30th anniversary, Dr Andrew Taylor, Executive Director from STFC, said: “This is a flagship European partnership of which both Italy and the UK can be proud. The mutual exchange of scientific and technical expertise has provided ISIS users with a set of world-leading scientific instruments and led to world-class science results covering everything from new methods of drug delivery to cultural heritage applications. We look forward to the continued success of this partnership.”
The ISIS-CNR collaboration has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Other work from the partnership ranges from studying the Ghiberti Heads, portrait sculptures of prophets by Lorenzo Ghiberti dating back to the Renaissance, using ISIS instruments ENGIN-x and INES, to proton motion in ice and water, studied using the Vesuvio instrument. Investigations into biological systems with health applications, such as the use of nanoparticles in drug delivery and lipid vesicle studies, have also resulted from the collaboration. The development of instruments and techniques, supported by CNR, has enabled these studies to take place.
ISIS is a world-leading centre for research in the physical and life sciences at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford in the United Kingdom. Our suite of neutron and muon instruments gives unique insights into the properties of materials on the atomic scale. The STFC ISIS facility supports a national and international community of more than 3000 scientists for research into subjects ranging from clean energy and the environment, pharmaceuticals and health care, through to nanotechnology and materials engineering, catalysis and polymers, and on to fundamental studies of materials.
ISIS uses the technique of neutron scattering. Neutrons tell us where atoms are and how they are moving. By studying how materials work at the atomic level, we can better understand their everyday properties—and so make new materials tailor-made for particular uses. ISIS also produces muons for use in a similar way, providing additional information on how materials work at the atomic scale.
INES is a powder diffractometer, built and managed by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) within the cooperation agreement with STFC. INES is a general-purpose diffractometer and is mainly devoted to materials characterization (structure refinement and phase analysis), cultural heritage studies, and equipment tests.